The SEO landscape is very dynamic. Sure, some things stay the same: put relevant keywords in your titles, make it a priority to optimize for mobile users, etc.
Zero-click searches are the new normal
Thanks to such SERP features as featured snippets, Google’s Local Packs, Knowledge graphs, and so on, more than half of all searches are now “zero-click searches.” That means that the user’s query is answered on the SERP itself, without them having to click away anywhere.
Do your best to optimize for Rich and Featured snippets
In the situation where zero-click searches are so prevalent, the information shown on the SERP itself is now more important than ever. Two great ways to stand out is to get Rich or Featured snippets.
Rich snippets — those that, in addition to title and description, show images, stars for reviews, prices for products, etc. — are easier to get, but they will also bring lower CTR improvements compared to a Featured snippet. Your result will be more noticeable, though, even if your position in a SERP will remain the same.
Featured snippets — an entire block of information that is shown at the top of a SERP — bring great increases in CTR. But getting one is quite a bit more tricky.
Local SEO is changing
A huge number of the aforementioned zero-click searches are local searches for which the results are shown on the SERP itself, in so-called Local Packs. For mobile devices, a single Local Pack might take up as much space as an entire SERP shown to a user.
What do we do?
You can cover a vast number of searches, mostly those containing keywords such as “near me” or “address” and “phone number” in one fell swoop, by creating a Google My Business page for your company.
But that should only be the beginning of your efforts. A large number of searches will not end on Local packs. People who want to compare products, look up more detailed information, etc. will still go on your website, and that’s where the traditional SEO practices become important.
The machines are here to stay
For years now Google’s been using learning algorithms to improve their users’ experience with search and help avoid keyword-stuffed webpages. In 2020, this will be more important than ever with Google’s latest algorithm named BERT.
Now, as far as we know, Google uses three mechanisms: first is Neural Matching, which figures out the meaning of the query. Second is RankBrain, which adjusts the SERP’s relying on the collected data about users’ behavior. The third, the newly-implemented BERT, is the algorithm that is used for analyzing the structure of a search to better understand the context in which keywords are used.
Brand building should be a priority
One noticeable trend for any marketer working today is that organic social is pretty much dead. While paid advertising still works brilliantly for social, the fact that more and more companies are doing it creates a real trend where ROI for paid ads will be decreasing.
It’s obvious at this point that paid ads will become more prevalent and expensive for everybody who wants to grow through that avenue. In these conditions, brand awareness and brand building come to the forefront of digital marketers’ efforts. On the other hand, linkless mentions are becoming more and more important, with Google and Bing confirming those are used as ranking signals.
Every time marketers think we got this SEO thing down, the rules start to shift and change. A great example is how local SEO changed. Today, having Google My Business is becoming more important for some local businesses than having a website, and this is just a symptom of a larger trend.
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